Earlier this week, the 2025 Happiness Atlas found that people in Germany are once again more satisfied with their lives than they were in the past few years. The mood has noticeably brightened since the coronavirus pandemic began. One in two people now describe themselves as very satisfied. Satisfaction has grown more markedly in eastern Germany than in western states. People in Hamburg are the happiest.
The “BiB.Monitor Well-Being” survey, conducted by the Federal Institute for Population Research, has come to a similar conclusion. The agency surveyed 30,000 individuals living in Germany aged 20 to 52, and also included results of other studies looking specifically at the integration of individual immigrant groups. More than a quarter of Germany’s 83 million people are the children of immigrants or have immigrated within the past 50 years.
“Actually, we have reached a certain stabilization in terms of life satisfaction and are now almost back to pre-coronavirus levels,” Katharina Spiess, head of Bib.Monitor, told DW. However, differences appeared when researchers looked at immigrant groups. “We are observing the so-called ‘integration paradox,’ in which the descendants of immigrants are less satisfied than their immigrant parents,” says Spiess.
Labor shortage forces Germany to accept more qualifications
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
The term “integration paradox” was coined by sociologist and integration researcher Aladin El-Mafaalani. He put forward the thesis that successful integration also increases the potential for conflict. When descendants of immigrants not only want to participate in society but also seek to help shape it, this often leads to conflict with people who resist change, which in turn leads to frustration with those who want to integrate.
Overall, the researchers found that new immigrants from Eastern Europe have the highest levels of satisfaction, followed by people without an immigrant background and the first generation born to immigrant parents.
“The finding that the descendants of immigrants are not as satisfied as others may also be related to the fact that their expectations may not have been met and their integration is not working as well as they and society had hoped,” Spiess said.
Eastern Europeans most satisfied in Germany
Almost one in four immigrants from Eastern Europe say they are very satisfied with their life in Germany. Germany has a long history of immigration from Eastern Europe, including migrant workers from Poland and other countries, but also individuals from the successor states of the Soviet Union, who have German heritage.
How migration to Germany changed after 2015 refugee arrivals
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
More than one in three immigrants from Asia and Africa say they are dissatisfied with their lives in Germany. That is higher than in any other group. The researchers suspect that experiences of discrimination and racism are the causes.
For immigrants who came to Germany in 2015 and 2016, the picture is mixed: Almost one in three Syrians is very satisfied with their lives here, while about the same number of immigrants from Iraq or Eritrea are dissatisfied with their situation.
According to the researchers, the reason for this could be that Syrian refugees had a significantly higher protection status than other refugees, including the possibility of family reunification.
German language key to integration, satisfaction
Life satisfaction has risen slightly compared with 2024 for Ukrainians who have arrived in Germany since the start of Russia’s war of aggressionRussia’s war of aggression in February 2022, but remains very low. Half of them say they are not very satisfied with their situation.
“Among the large group of Ukrainians seeking protection in Germany, we see lower life satisfaction, especially among older women,” Spiess said. “This could be related to the fact that their partners are still in Ukraine and may be actively involved in the war.”
The researchers also highlighted an additional finding: The less immigrants speak German at home, the more dissatisfied they are — language remains the key to successful integration. “It is not only in Germany that immigrants become better integrated into the labor market and have a better command of the language the longer they live in the country,” Spiess said. “This is also related to the fact that people’s satisfaction increases with the length of their stay.” says Spiess.\
Second-generation migrants struggle to succeed in Germany
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
The survey also looked at emigrants from Germany. German emigrants to Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece in, particular, are very satisfied with their lives. “This is certainly related to the climate, but also to the lower cost of living,” explains Katharina Spiess.
“People who want to emigrate are not necessarily dissatisfied in Germany,” Spiess said. “These are also people who are satisfied but want to go abroad to gain new experiences.”
This article was originally written in German.
